Jeannie's Jams & Jellies

Jeannie (Heppner, Ore.) says, "I was fortunate to have been raised on an 8,000-acre cattle ranch in Imnaha, OR.  We didn’t have electricity in Imnaha so we had a generator and gas lights. These were some of my most precious memories.  There were 4 of us kids and my mom. Dad was a pilot and a Captain in the Navy so he was gone on cruise a lot during the Vietnam era. I do remember that sometimes he would fly over the ranch house when he was out on his practice maneuvers from Whidbey Island. Trips to the “big town” of Enterprise were every other week and it took 2 hours to get there because the roads were not yet paved. Imnaha is referred to as the banana belt because many kinds of fruit and vegetables grow there so, my mom learned to can vegetables and fruits and make all sorts of jams and jellies. I grew up watching and helping her pick fruit, cook it on the stove, and ladle it into jars.  She also made homemade bread every week. It was a lot of work, but something that we all enjoyed helping and of course eating!"